But how does the law apply to selling small amounts of cannabis? As with alcohol, the current state marijuana legalization does not allow for consumption in public places or for nonlicensed individuals to sell the drug.

So, after a number of complaints from local residents, SPD investigated two dozen individuals suspected of dealing drugs in an area known as the “Ave.”

“Turns out that marijuana dealers actually accounted for the majority of the problem. In the spirit of I-502, Seattle Police coordinated with the King County Prosecutor’s Office to forge ahead with an innovative approach to equitably deal with those responsible,” reads an explanation on the SPD’s blog.

In other words, individuals who were only carrying marijuana and did not have outstanding criminal records were let go.

But the SPD did issue the pot dealers warning, discouraging them from continuing to sell pot and to not consume it in public places like the Ave.

“The offender will have been shown to have been warned about marijuana sales, and that they still returned, despite our attempt at gaining their cooperation,” explained Narcotics Lt. Mike Kebba. "The admonishment letter is reasonable, because we are not restricting their freedom to go anywhere. SPD will just be requiring them to comply with the law while in public places and refrain from drug dealing.”